Ebony Utley

Ebony A. Utley is an author, scholoar and public intellectual. Associate Professor of Communiciation Studies at California State University Long Beach, her groundbreaking book Rap and Religion: Understanding the Gangsta's God (2012) reveals how a God-sanctioned gangsta identity empowers young Black people facing declining economic opportunities. Her previous books include the anthologies Power and Pleasure in Popular Culture (2012) and Hip-Hop's Languages of Love (2009). In addtion to her work on the intersection of hip-hop and the church, Utley examines how Americans talk about race and racism, asks probing questions about women's experiences with infidelity, investigates African America beliefs about marriage, and explores the tenuous relationship betwee hip-hop and love. Here writings have appeared in Black Women, Gender and Families, Critical Studies in Media Communication, Rhetoric and Public Affairs, The Journal of Men's Studies, The Western Journal of Black Studies, and Women and Language. A contributing blogger for Ms. Magazine, Religion Dispatches and Truthdig, Utley's blogs have been cited by AlterNet, Essence, Belief.net, Feminist Philosophers, Jezebel, Soapdom and Racialicious.